Collaboreate

CHALLENGE

While the market is huge for clouds, there are currently no good options in the storage space that supports collaboration or projects. Nothing facilitates communication when sharing files. At this time, there are no cloud storages that offer the immediacy of social media, but doesn’t push it too far where it inhibits productivity.

SOLUTION

Create a cloud storage space that can holds all the expected function of any other cloud and more. Specialize it to facilitate communication between users so that it mimics the efficiency achieved for face to face collaboration with projects and group work.

user surveys

UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS OF THE USER

After conducting user surveys, I was able to identify a few needs:
20% of users communicated that they need to identify files easily in a cloud.
48% of users reported wanting a more organized storage space for their files.
36% of users added “real-time collaboration” on their wishlist.
Alternatively, I was also able to determine a few painpoints. The major standouts were concerns about privacy and inadequate storage space.

competitive analysis

SEEING WHAT ELSE IS OUT THERE

The next step involves delving more deeply into research. I completed a competitive analysis of three key players in the cloud storage space. I selected three companies that varied significantly so that I could closely analyze the wide spectrum of clouds that already exist - Google Drive, Evernote, and Pinterest.

user personas

CAPTURING THE NATURE AND MOTIVATIONS OF THE USER

I conducted interviews from potential users and moved on to capture the overall personality of the user in the form of two user personas.

user flows

MAPPING OUT THE DETAILS

I began to map out the information architecture of Collaboreate. The goal here was to create refined flows that a user would intuitively go through to complete the functions of the application. I used DrawIo to build my finalized flows which I’ve listed here.

user flows

MAPPING OUT THE DETAILS

I began to map out the information architecture of Collaboreate. The goal here was to create refined flows that a user would intuitively go through to complete the functions of the application. I used DrawIo to build my finalized flows which I’ve listed here.

COLOR

high fidelity mockups

TAKING IN ALL THE DETAILS

After multiple iterations, I was able to add more detail into these mockups. I used Figma to create these images.

usability testing

USER FEEDBACK AND TAKEAWAYS

After many iterations with preference and usability tests, I walked away with major takeaways. I learned that users preferred an orange logo, and thought that it better aligned with the mood I wanted to convey in the product. I learned that users really enjoyed the separation of folders and files in the main dashboard. I also learned that users thought that I could have incorporated more color in the dashboard, and that it looked dull. After each round of testing, I made small tweaks and updates until I came up with a prototype of the final product using inVision.

LESSONS

The first lesson I learned from this project was that regardless of how many improvements and tweaks I added to the product, people would always offer feedback. Feedback and criticism were extremely helpful and helped guide me to the correct direction, but it was impossible to please everyone. For example, there were times where the results of my preference testing showed that 50% of users preferred a specific CTA, and the 50% strongly preferred another. This showed that while testing was extremely useful, it was still important to take the results of these tests with a grain of salt. Another area where I felt challenged was in creating the initial wireframe. I felt that my sketches did not appropriately lend to a specific design, and I could have taken more time to jot down more ideas during this phase. I also learned to capitalize on preference tests, as users were drawn to how quickly they could complete them.